


I Don't Know

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ghosts, Human Allura (Voltron), Human Coran (Voltron), M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Succubi & Incubi, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2018-12-25 19:06:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12042303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Keith has been the monster in Lance's closet for years; a new competitor joins the fray.Dedicated to my friend Foster.





	1. Competition

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if chapters are short, this is my first chaptered fic. The rating WILL go up to explicit in future chapters. Not sure about the update schedule, but it should be weekly.

Keith is not a huge fan of competition.

Scratch that, he loves competition, but only so long as he’s winning. And with how things are going right now, he doesn’t feel as though he’s in the lead. Back in the day-- God, listen to him, talking like he’s 900 instead of 349-- he was the sole occupant of this house. It was boring without anyone to torment, but he made it work. Setting small traps around the house for when it would finally be occupied. They had a pretty hard time selling the place, but since he's a literal monster living in the place, it seems pretty reasonable.

Then a new family moved in and Keith finally had something to do. Of course, it’s a bit cramped in the closet now, with all of Lance’s stuff shoved in there, but Keith makes it work. Lance’s habit of letting his clothes fall off their hangers and sit on the floor actually makes for a rather comfortable place to sleep.

It was going great; sleeping, moving things around, making noises at night to scare the shit out of Lance like monsters are wont to do. Then  _ he  _ came along. Shiro moved in under Lance’s bed one day while Keith slept. He’s an incubus, old school, at least twice Keith’s age. Which means he has more experience, something that’s been grating on Keith’s nerves. It doesn’t help that Lance  _ likes _ Shiro, because he’s a horny college kid who’s too awkward to go out and actually get laid himself.

Incubi and Succubi are pretty universally loved by humans and despised by the monstrous. People like getting laid, monsters hate having their marks stolen. You know, exactly what’s happening to Keith right now. Quite literally right now, considering Shiro is slipping out from under the bed frame to unfurl his wings so he can hover above Lance and sing his soothing song to start the ritual.

As annoying as incubi are, it’s always amazing to see the transformation their song brings about in humans. Lance’s already lax body sinks further into the bed, Shiro’s smooth voice threading through his muscles until every fiber succumbs to the calm. A relaxation greater than that of sleep, a spell so powerful no human can resist it. Which is kind of weird for Keith, because that insinuates Lance has no choice in the matter. Even though, logically, he knows the spell wouldn’t work if Lace weren’t willing, it still feels a little icky that Shiro makes Lance think he’s dreaming all the while.

Truly, Shiro is one of the most elegant creatures Keith has ever had the displeasure of meeting. Something about his movements makes slipping his fingers under the waistband of Lance’s basketball shorts look poetic. The fabric slips down, down, down, exposing smooth tan skin for Keith to drink in and  _ why _ is he still watching? He doesn’t want to see this, he just wants to go to sleep and let Shiro do his thing. But some unknown force keeps his hand in place where it holds open the curtain covering the closet, keeps his eyes glued to Shiro’s slowly lowering head.

It's not the first time Shiro has preyed on Lance, but it  _ is _ the first time Keith has watched. Does that make him a creep? Watching this? Watching Shiro’s thumbs rub circles into the soft skin of Lance’s hips, his eyelashes flutter against his high cheekbones, Lance’s long fingers digging into the mattress as he clutches the sheets. It doesn't last too terribly long, Lance’s young body so easy to please and susceptible to Shiro’s charm. The arch of his back as he comes is a symphony, his scrunched up face a Monet masterpiece. Only when Keith returns his gaze to Shiro and sees him looking right back does he release the curtain, staring at his own hand as if the fabric burned it. There is only one thought in his mind: what the  _ fuck. _


	2. Contact

Shiro is a fucking cocksucker.

It’s both a literal and figurative assessment Keith makes, after two weeks and his first interaction with the guy. An interaction that went somewhere along the lines of:

“This is my turf.”

“I’m just doing my job.”

“Well go do it somewhere else.”

“No need to be so jealous, Keith.”

Which, honestly, was ridiculous, because what would Keith even have to be jealous of? That Lance likes Shiro better? Of course the guy likes getting fucked more than being scared. That Shiro is quite literally a cocksucker? Just because Keith was maybe kind of watching through the closet door when he discovered that information doesn’t mean he’s jealous of Shrio. Or of Lance. That would be so goddamn-- it would be stupid, right? What kind of self-respecting monster would lust after a lanky little twink like Lance? And yeah, Shiro is gorgeous, that’s kind of his job, but no monster would ever let themself fall under a demon’s spell. It was ridiculous! Absolutely preposterous that a monster of good standing such as Keith would want to be the one under Shiro, or on top of lance, or both, good god both, right between them--

Fuck you. Keith does not have a problem.

Except he kind of maybe does, because he’s taken to sneaking out and scaring the neighbor’s kid, because something in him doesn’t get that same thrill from scaring Lance as it used to. Sure, it sustains him, fear is fear after all. But his heart’s just not in it anymore. He prefers when Lance has to get some clothes off the hangers and gives a little “hello, Closet Monster” in a random direction as he does so. He likes it when Lance responds to him knocking something over with “hey, could you not?”, or when he knocks something over himself and looks to the closet to say “I’m blaming that on you, Closet Monster”.

Then, one morning, Lance comes to get his shoes out of the closet and says “Hey, Keith”. He’s almost entirely certain it’s not possible, but Keith is pretty sure he’s having a heart attack. He’s so shocked he misses whatever Lance says next and has to backtrack in his brain to comprehend Lance’s voice, uncharacteristically soft, asking

“That is your name, right? Keith?”

Lance has already given up, turning from the door to go back to his bed when Keith makes a soft rumbling noise. Lance, being the elegant gazelle he is, trips over his own two feet and lands face-first on the bed. Keith may or may not hope his sudden weight crushes Shiro, even if only momentarily.

“You talked!” Lance shrieks when he bolts up from the sheets, “I’m totally not hearing things, you talked to me!” After a moment of internal debate, Keith decides “fuck it” and gives an affirmative growl just loud enough for Lance to hear. He’s not exactly… great. At speaking human languages. But maybe he can try? Just this once? Lance just looks so hopeful and excited and his eyes are so open and earnest it’s endearing. Endearing enough to have Keith giving a gruff cough to clear his throat so he can croak out Lance’s name. Which, honestly? Is totally worth it.

“You know my name!” Lance beams, bouncing on the balls of his feet, “You know my name and you said it! It was kind of scary cause your voice is just, not great man, you should work on that, but you said it!” The skip in his step as he approaches the closet again makes Keith’s chest feel weird, and the eager way he clasps his hands together as he approaches the closet has the corner of Keith’s mouth twitching upward ever so slightly. The guy is cute, okay? He’s just. He’s a good guy, an honest one, if a bit too prone to thinking with his dick instead of his brain.

“Can you say it again?” Lance asks, pushing the closet curtain to the side and looking around, “Do you know anything else?” Yeah, Keith knows anything else. After all these years, he’s fluent in so many languages Lance probably hasn’t even heard of half of them. But talking isn’t Keith’s thing. He’s not here to have a quaint little conversation with his mark, he’s here to scare the shit out of him so he can keep living. And he’s a little rusty as a conversationalist, having lived for so long away from others. Always a bit of a loner, anyway. But if he’s going to go so far as to say Lance’s name for him, he may as well do his best to carry on.

“I know plenty,” he grunts, throat so unused to making any noise beside growls that it protests this proper handling. He’s talking to Lance. Holy shit, he’s talking to Lance! He’s talking to a human, which is against, like, every rule he can think of. Oh man he’s gonna be in so much trouble if anyone finds out he’s doing this. He should stop. He should stop while he’s behind and let Lance think this was all some weird hallucination. But Lance just looks so… happy. Happy to hear the disembodied voice of the monster that lives in his closet like some kind of heavy handed metaphor for Lance’s bisexuality. And no matter how hard he tries to convince himself that he’s a stoic, unaffected monster that only preys on humans for life force, he can’t bring himself to crush that happiness. But he won’t show himself. He’ll stay invisible and intangible for now, because if Lance could see his face, he’d run screaming out the door and never come back.

Keith always wants him to come back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments/corrections/constructive criticism are welcome!


	3. Consideration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short, Lance-centric chapter.

Shiro is, in addition to all other descriptors Keith has thus far conveyed, a snitch.

In the meager duration of their halting conversation, Lance had confided that it was Shiro who had taught him Keith’s name, whispered in his ear after the very seduction he had witnessed from his crowded home of the closet. It had only taken Lance a week to use it because the idea of not only genuinely trying to speak to the surely delusional monster in his closet, but calling him by such a  _ normal _ name, brought up so much embarrassment that Lance needed time to work up the nerve. It was only the fact that he was alone in his room so no one could ever know if he were really just talking to the shoes piled in the corner of his closet that gave him the courage to speak up. To speak that one simple word that started something he had no idea was even possible, let alone where it could head.

What do you do after making contact with the invisible monster in your closet? Lance sure as shit doesn't know, and the internet isn't exactly being helpful. He's not trying to fuck the monster, okay? He's not into that. Except maybe he kind of is? Because he's definitely into Shiro, who is probably an incubus, which would mean he  _ is _ into monsters. Are incubi considered monsters? Or are monsters their own thing? How the hell does all this work? Maybe he should watch Supernatural. That show’s been on long enough that they've probably run out of creatures to fight, so surely they've covered incubi and whatever Keith is. Are there monster politics? Monster prejudices? He’s getting off topic.

Anyway, the internet seems mostly interested in how to have sex with monsters and not documenting what they are specifically. There are plenty of creatures that can become invisible, as well as some that are incomprehensible to the human eye, but none of them seem like Keith. Sure, the guy has spent the past year scaring the shit out of him, but he's pretty harmless. The closest he's ever come to hurting Lance is when he knocked a bag off the top shelf and onto his head, but Lance doesn't think that was intentional. Plus, he hadn't even been doing his usual go-bump-in-the-night routine lately. It's like he doesn't want to scare Lance anymore, like it's just not doing it for him. Maybe that's a bad thing, though. Maybe something about Lance just isn’t good enough for Keith now. Maybe he's doing something wrong when he gets scared and that's why Keith seems to have given up on him.

As far as Lance is concerned, there's only one person in the world he can talk to about this. He's only known his next door neighbor Allura for a couple years, but she's like a sister to him. An annoying older sister who thinks he's kind of dumb, but a sister nonetheless; and therefore someone he can confide in about the frankly crazy shit going down in his room. Considering the context, he might keep Shiro to himself though, to be polite.  _ Or _ he could spare no grueling detail just to see the grossed out look on Allura’s face.

Yeah, he's definitely gonna do the second one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't have much time to write this week, so this chapter is short, apologies. The next chapter will also be Lance-centric, just so you know!
> 
> As always, all comments/corrections/constructive criticism are welcome.


	4. Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another Lance-centric chapter.

Shiro is… not as bad as Keith may have previously assessed. But that's not what he's focusing on right now. Or maybe ever.

Right now, Keith is more concerned with the fact that Lance has been gone for two days. Sure, Keith just continues to go to the neighbor’s to eat; that kid must have anxiety or something, because he produces so much fear Keith could get fat just off him. He digresses. The point here is that Lance is gone and Keith might be a little convinced he's scared him away.

\-----

Allura is perfect in every way Lance needs her to be. She's always there for him, even when he wants to talk about something but can't get the damn words out of his mouth. It's been a two night sleepover so far and halfway through the third day Lance is just glad that Coran is cool enough to let him stay so long as he may need. He makes bad jokes, even by Lance’s standards, but it's a small price to pay for a chill surrogate dad.

Overall, his second family is the bomb, and he's glad they understand that sometimes the words get stuck in the back of your throat and dig in choking claws that tighten around your trachea every time you try to open your mouth. He might be being a little dramatic. But how do you tell your friend that you're self-conscious about your scareability because the literal monster in your closet will talk to you but not knock your shit over in the middle of the night? Not even to start on the actual, real, honest to god incubus feeding off of sucking his dick.

In the end, it's Allura who broaches the subject of the supernatural with a resolved “can I tell you something?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Lance blinks slowly, putting down his phone on the bed to lean his head in his hands, elbows on his knees. Allura is a relatively serious person, but this resolute tone and manner are rare to witness. She turns in her desk chair to look at Lance head-on.

“You know that old notebook Foster gave me?” she leads, referring to the beaten-up almost century old book sitting on the desk behind her, continuing at Lance’s nod, “I think it's haunted.” And well, if Allura, the most level-headed person Lance knows, thinks her vintage notebook is haunted, well… maybe a monster in his closet isn't so ridiculous.

“What do you mean by haunted?” Lance asks, a little bit of instinctual fear bubbling up. His monsters may be nice, but that doesn't mean all of them are. What if whatever haunting the book is malicious? What if Allura is in danger? What if  _ he’s _ in danger by being near it?

“Pidge?” Allura calls out into the still air of the room, “Pidge, can you please come out?” And lo and behold, there's a goddamn  _ ghost  _ floating just off the ground in front of Lance’s face.

After the part where Lance screams and falls off the bed, hitting his head right on the corner of Allura’s night stand and splitting open his forehead, he settles down with a washcloth pressed to the wound and a headache the size of Kansas. Pidge is still apologizing, fluttering in and out of sight around Lance, reaching out as if she could touch his cut to make it better. Honestly it’s kind of… endearing? His earlier fears of a vengeful spirit dissipate in the face of this sweet young girl. Surely he and Allura are just exceptionally lucky. Seriously, three kind monsters? What are the odds?

Soon enough, Pidge settles down, her form getting more solid as she calms. She’s cute, in a younger sibling kind of way. She must have been a teenager when she died, still a little bit baby-faced and straight-bodied, and the thought has Lance’s chest tightening. Poor thing.

“You’re the neighbor, right?” She asks once she’s done apologizing, continuing only after he nods, “How are you dealing with the monsters in your room?” Which, holy shit, is weird that she knows and also not at all how he planned on Allura finding out. How did this kid even  _ know _ about Keith and Shiro? Hell, Lance didn’t even know about them until just recently. Maybe it’s a spirit thing. Undead knowing about all the other creepy-crawlies that lurk around.  _ Or _ maybe it’s because, oh yeah, Foster brought the notebook to Lance’s house to ask if Allura would like it before handing it off. Right. He has a functioning memory.

“Uh,” Lance says eloquently, too dumbfounded to be upset about being outed, “They’re cool. So I don’t have to like-- deal with them. I guess. They just uh. Mind their own business.” Which isn’t exactly true, because Shiro definitely does…  _ deal _ with him. To him. On him. Not important.

“I see,” Pidge says, adjusting her glasses as though they could fall down, “They must like you. It’s unlike a monster to  _ mind his own business _ .” he hadn’t until recently, so that’s probably true, “And I’m assuming you just don’t want to disclose the nature of your relationship with Shiro.” Not true, because his plan had been to gross Allura out with all the nasty details. But then again, he hadn’t been able to do it, not until now with Allura looking at him like he has five heads.

“We fuck,” he blurts out, not entirely in control of his own mouth, “Shiro’s an incubus and we fuck. Like a lot. But I didn’t know he was real at first, so does that even count? Is there a rule about having to know the person you’re fucking is real for it to count? Not that I don’t want it to count, I mean, come on, it’s good, like really good, Shiro is fucking awesome at fucking--” he’s saying fuck a lot, isn’t he? He should just stop talking. Like right now. Which he does.

“Well,” Allura leads after possibly the longest pause and loudest throat clearing of Lance’s life, “That’s… interesting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!!  
> As always, all comments/corrections/constructive criticism welcome!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Any and all comments/corrections/constructive criticism are welcome.


End file.
